A Faithless People

"There will be a collecting basin that you must make between the two walls for the waters of the old pool.  And you will certainly not look at the  grand  maker of it, and the one forming it long ago you will certainly not see."  (Isaiah 22:11) The efforts to collect water, described both here and in verse 9, remind us of the action King Hezekiah took to protect the city against eh invading Assyrians.  (2 Chronicles 32:2-5)  However, the people of the city in this prophecy of Isaiah are absolutely faithless. As they work on the defense of the city, they give no though to the Creator, unlike Hezekiah.

Isaiah continues: "The Sovereign Lord, Jehovah of armies, will call it that day for weeping and for mourning  and for baldness and for girding on sackcloth.  But, look!  exultation and rejoicing, the killing of cattle and the slaughtering of sheep, the eating of flesh and the drinking of wine, 'Let there be eating and drinking, for tomorrow we shall die.' " (Isaiah 22:12, 13)  The inhabitants  of Jerusalem  show no remorse for their rebellion against Jehovah.  They do not weep, cut their hair, or wear sackcloth as a sign of repentance.  If they were doing so, likely Jehovah would spare them the coming horrors.  Instead, they abandon themselves to sensual enjoyment.  The same attitude exists today among many who do not put faith in God.  Because they  have no hope-either of a resurrection from the dead or of life in the future Paradise earth-they pursue lives of self-indulgence, saying:  "Let us eat and drink,, for tomorrow we are to die."  (1 Corinthians 15:32)  How shortsighted!  If only they would put their trust in Jehovah, they would have a lasting hope! - Psalm 4:6-8; Proverbs 1:33.

The besieged inhabitants of Jerusalem will not know security.  Isaiah says:  "In my ears Jehovah of armies has revealed himself:  'The error will not be atoned for in your behalf until you people die,"  the Sovereign Lord, Jehovah of armies has said."  (Isaiah 22:14) Because of the hardheartedness of the people, there will be no pardon.  Without fail, death will come.  This is a certainty.  The Sovereign Lord, Jehovah of armies, has said it.  In fulfillment of Isaiah's prophetic  words, calamity comes twice upon unfaithful Jerusalem.  It is destroyed by the armies of Babylon and later by those of Rome. So, too, calamity will come upon unfaithful Christendom, whose members  claim to worship God but actually disown him by their works.  (Titus 1:16)  the sins of Christendom, along with those of the world's other religions that flout God's righteous ways, have "massed together clear up to heaven."  Like the error of apostate Jerusalem, their error is too great to be atoned for. -Revelation 18:5. 8, 21.

Next time: A Selfish Steward

From the Book  Isaiah's Prophecy Light for all Mankind, 2000